Reduction of Greenhouse Gases

ABSTRACT

The heat removal and recovery systems of a nuclear energy source and the heat requirements of a nearby industrial facility are designed to achieve zero or near-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial facility. Alternative arrangements of heat loops or belts to and from the nuclear heat source and within the industrial facility utilize heat exchange equipment at the interfaces and replace the use of fired furnaces and boilers. Technologies and processes can be selected to avoid the need or use of all or most of the furnaces and boilers. The design scheme applies to both new and existing retrofitted industrial facilities.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to methods of reducing greenhouse gases emissions from petroleum refineries, chemical plants, bitumen upgraders, and other industrial facilities. Many conventional processes within such facilities employ heaters, furnaces, and boilers wherein gas or oil is combusted, resulting in flue gases to the atmosphere. This invention obviates the need for such furnaces by utilizing heat from a nuclear reactor in a nearby nuclear power plant or a mini reactor within the industrial facility itself The field of nuclear reactor cooling is involved as well.

2. Background Art

Petroleum refineries designed and operated over the years emit lower and lower quantities of undesirable pollutants to the atmosphere, with major interest in the various forms of sulfur. Recently, however, considerable emphasis has been placed on the removal of oxides of carbon and other greenhouse gases from refinery and petrochemical plant stacks. It would be beneficial if such facilities could be designed with no stacks to the atmosphere used during normal operation. Some process technologies require “process” stacks as well as stacks from burning fuel. Some EPA permit applications in the U.S. have been based on minimizing process stacks by selecting alternative processes to those requiring process stacks. For example, a refinery can be built without a Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit. However, such methods of minimizing stacks are very limited. It would be extremely advantageous if a refinery required fewer or no stacks for normal operation. This invention achieves that goal by utilizing heat from an adjacent nuclear reactor located either in the industrial plant or in a nearby power plant.

The use of waste heat from conventional electric power generators within an industrial plant to reduce the furnace heat requirement within a process unit has been practiced many times and is considered open art These applications are called “combined heat and power (CHP) plants.” The use of any level of heat from a nuclear reactor either within the refinery or nearby has not been practiced. This invention covers both partial and plant-wide applications for refinery, petrochemical, bulk or specialty chemicals, or bitumen upgrader facilities.

Parts of this invention are recognized as prior art when utilized as a part of other processing schemes, for example, the use of circulating hot oil loops or belts. This invention is applied to the entire facility, claimed to be designed for a unique purpose, from partial to near elimination of greenhouse gases from the plant.

SUMMARY

This invention is a processing scheme that combines conventional industrial plant, e.g., petroleum refining, upgrading, petrochemical, bulk or specialty chemical facilities, with nuclear reactor operations. The integration is designed to operate any of those facilities such that the greenhouse gas emissions from furnace and boiler stacks can be reduced or essentially eliminated. Other means of reducing greenhouse gases emissions will be obviated to the extent the processing scheme is utilized. For example, scrubbing furnace and boiler stacks for carbon oxides removal, capturing, transporting, and sequestering the material will be replaced with the processing scheme described in this invention.

The key to the new process is the continuous transfer of heat from the nuclear reaction to the facility requiring heat for its operation, by utilizing one or more circulating fluid loops between the two otherwise separate facilities. Depending on the degree of utilization, greenhouse gases emissions may be reduced from a minor extent to virtually obviating the need to operate fired process heaters/furnaces and gas or liquid fired steam boilers. To the extent that low level heat from the nuclear reaction is used, this design results in any power generation plant being more environmentally acceptable because the waste heat to the receiving stream will be reduced.

Obtaining an air permit for a new facility will be easier with a greatly reduced greenhouse emissions expectation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic of the base processing scheme and also Alternate No. 1 processing scheme.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of Alternate No. 2 processing scheme.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of Alternate No. 4 processing scheme.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The base processing scheme is depicted in drawing FIG. 1. Heat from a nuclear electric power plant (block 1) is diverted from some power generation and from the receiving lake or river (block 3) by material flowing hot to the industrial plant that requires the heat (block 2) through piping [1], and returning cooled in piping [2]. The flowing fluid is organic or inorganic vapor, liquid, molten fluid or slurry as required by the processes employed in the industrial plant, with necessary modifications to conventional reactor heat removal facilities in the nuclear plant design.

Using a petroleum refinery as an example, the amount of heat removed from the circulating hot fluid loop depends on the crude oil source, the crude flow rate, and the process configuration of the refinery. The invention applies to a facility with feed [3] sources including, but not limited to, crude oils, condensates, biomass digester feed types, natural gas, naphtha, gas oil, tar sands bitumen, shale oil, and synthetic crude oils.

Possible industrial plant products include but are not limited to the following: stream 4, ethylene; stream 5, naphtba; stream 6, gasoline; stream 7, diesel fuel; stream 8, heavy fuel oil; stream 9, coke; stream 10, aromatics; stream 11, polypropylene; stream 12, jet fuel; stream 13, kerosene; stream 14, hydrogen; stream 15, topped crude; stream 16, reduced crude; stream 17, bulk chemicals; stream 18, specialty chemicals; and stream 19, synthetic crude oil.

In this scheme, the hot fluid is at a temperature sufficiently high to exchange heat with the plant fluid requiring the highest temperature, for example, 1,500° F. at a reforming process to produce hydrogen. The fluid from this heat exchanger would then exchange heat with other fluids in the plant at successively lower temperatures, returning to the power plant through pipe [2]. A nuclear reactor type that operates at high temperatures is required.

Alternate No. 1 processing scheme is also represented by drawing FIG. 1. In this processing scheme, the circulating heat source from the power plant, streams 1 and 2, designed to exchange heat with a series of circulating streams, commonly called hot oil belts or loops, within the facility wherein each successive circulating fluid is at a lower temperature and exchanges heat with various heat users attached to its belt or loop. Possible feed streams to the facility, and possible products from it, would be as in the base scheme described above and shown in FIG. 1.

Alternate No. 2 to the Base Scheme is shown in FIG. 2. This alternate design consists of three or more hot heat loops [1, 2, and 3] and [4, 5, and 6] exiting the power plant at different temperatures and returning to the power plant either separately or combined. The drawing shows them returning separately as an example. Each of these loops exchanges heat with various users in the facility requiring heat, or with internal hot fluid belts which in turn exchange heat with various heat users. Optimized temperature levels of the various loops from the power plant would likely range between 400° F. and 1,600° F., depending on the configuration of the industrial facility and state-of-the-art materials of construction. Selection of process technologies for the facility determines the number of circulating loops from and to the power plant. Possible feed streams to the facility, and possible products, would be as in the base scheme described above and in FIG. 1.

Alternate No. 3 to the Base Scheme is shown in FIG. 3. It covers any of the described piping arrangements except that the nuclear reactor is a so-called Mini-Reactor designed to service only the industry processes within the battery limits. The design may or may not furnish electric power to the facility along with the required heat. The design has the option to export some electric power as well. Possible feed streams to the facility, and possible products, would be as in the base scheme described above and in FIG. 1.

Alternate No. 4 to the Base Scheme contains the basic elements of the base scheme and Alternates 1 and 2 except that the hydrogen reformer, if any, is located within the battery limits of the nuclear power plant or outside as closely as allowed under the regulatory rules. Advantages of this arrangement include minimizing the length of the hottest fluid piping associated with the refining processes.

General/common for all schemes: Process technologies selected for the facility requiring heat depend on the feedstocks selected and the desired products. For the combinations ultimately selected, process technologies can be selected such that greenhouse gas emissions can range from a modest reduction to almost zero emissions. For example, the sulfur plant incinerator stack may be in existence with a carbon oxides scrubber operating at less than complete recovery. The emergency relief system pilot gas emits greenhouse gases. In locations where flare and/or thermal oxidizer igniters are allowed, no greenhouse gas emissions from pilot gas need to occur during normal operation. Depending on the design and available metallurgies, no other fuels need be burned for normal operation of the facility.

Conventional reactor cooling and waste heat removal systems designs will be modified to accommodate the heat quantities and temperature levels required by the processes requiting heat. Suitable beat carrying mediums will be selected to satisfy the temperatures required as well as the reliability, durability and safety of the equipment and piping.

For the case of an existing facility, the existing furnaces and boilers may be retained for use when the nuclear reaction facilities are shut down. For the grassroots case, building the furnaces and boilers in addition to the heat exchangers may be an option so that the facility requiring heat need not be idle when the nuclear reaction facilities are shut down. The facility would need to be permitted on that basis if that is the design basis. Safety regulations will require that a nuclear facility contain the means to continue to operate when the exported heat is reduced for any reason.

Though the invention has been described with reference to certain examples, optionally incorporating various features, the invention is not to be limited to the schematics described. The invention is not limited to the uses noted, or by way of the exemplary description provided herein. It is to be understood that the breadth of the process invention is to be limited only by the literal or equitable scope of the following claim. 

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 7. A method of reducing greenhouse gases emissions from a petroleum refinery, petrochemical plant, inorganic chemical manufacturing facility, bulk chemical manufacturing facility, or bitumen upgrader: Step 1: A heat carrying fluid comprised of hydrocarbon liquid, hydrocarbon vapor, a mixture of hydrocarbon liquid and vapor, a molten fluid, a liquid and solid slurry, a non-hydrocarbon mixture of liquid and vapor, or a mixture of solids and vapor being piped and pumped or compressed into heat exchange equipment in the heat removal section of a nuclear reactor assembly located either in an adjacent nuclear power generation plant or a mini-reactor located within the facility described in Step 2 with the fluid experiencing a temperature increase. Step 2: Fluid from Step 1, after experiencing a temperature increase, being pressured or pumped to a petroleum refinery, petrochemical plant, inorganic chemical manufacturing facility, bulk chemical manufacturing facility, or bitumen upgrader and flowing through a series of heat exchange equipment substituting for fired heaters, furnaces, or boilers needed for the particular processes in the facility, reducing or eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases due to the reduction of fired duty. Step 2 Alternate No. 1: Fluid from Step 1, after experiencing a temperature increase, being pressured or pumped to a petroleum refinery, petrochemical plant, inorganic chemical manufacturing facility; bulk chemical manufacturing facility, or bitumen upgrader and flowing through equipment in which heat is exchanged to another circulating fluid of a type described in Step 1, with the fluid in this secondary circulating loop being pressured or pumped through piping through heat exchange equipment substituting for fired heaters, furnaces, or boilers needed for the particular processes in the facility, and returning to the main loop heat exchanger, thereby reducing or eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases due to the reduction of fired duty. Step 2 Alternate No. 2: Fluid from Step 1, after experiencing a temperature increase, being pressured or pumped to a petroleum refinery, petrochemical plant, inorganic chemical manufacturing facility, bulk chemical manufacturing facility, or bitumen upgrader and flowing through equipment in which heat is exchanged in either series or parallel arrangements to multiple secondary circulating heat exchange systems, each secondary loop furnishing heat through heat exchange equipment substituting for fired heaters, furnaces, or boilers needed for the particular processes in the facility, and returning to the main loop heat exchanger, reducing or eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases due to the reduction of fired duty. Step 3: Cooled fluid circulating in the main loop being piped and pressured or pumped back to the heat exchange equipment at the nuclear heat removal equipment thereby completing the main loop. 